San Antonio man charged in two cold case murders sentenced to life in prison

SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio man who was facing the possibility of a death penalty took a plea deal instead on Monday.

Jose Baldomero Flores had been charged with the 2005 murder of Heather Willms and the 2011 murder of Esmeralda Herrera.

Both women were found murdered in their apartments and were friends with Flores.

He was arrested and charged with their deaths in 2016.

On Monday, days before a jury was to be picked for one of his upcoming trials, Flores took a plea deal.

Flores was given two consecutive life sentences on two first-degree murder charges.

Both families of the victims were in court to hear the plea and then to face Flores during victim impact statements.

“Every fiber of my being wants you to suffer and live in fear just as my Heather did, just as Esmeralda did,” Heather Willms’ mother Donna Ellis said. “Today I take back my life, I forgive you.”

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